WPD and WFR fly flags at half-staff for National Police Week

The Watertown Police Department and Watertown Fire Rescue held a national police week ceremony at the police department on Monday, May 11.

Asst. Chief Ryan Remmers gives a speech during the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Asst. Chief Ryan Remmers prefaced a flag-raising with a speech, before Watertown Mayor Ried Holien gave a short proclamation followed by a prayer from Fire Chaplain Hank Rosso.

“In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as Peace Officer Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week,” Remmers said. “It’s an honor to stand here with you today. Last year, 151 law enforcement officers gave their lives in the line of duty. An additional 36 officers have been lost so far in 2026.”

Remmers also said as of now, 27,110 names are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

Mayor Ried Holien reads a Police Week Proclamation.

“Each one is a testament to service and sacrifice,” he said. “Behind each of those names is a story of a partner, a parent, a friend, a public servant who chose a life of duty. … It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, but how they lived.”

Holien spoke before he gave his proclamation.

“I want to express a sincere and heartfelt thank you for all the work that you do (and) the danger that you put yourselves in so that we don’t have to face that danger ourselves,” he said.

Dets. Jesse Alvarado and Sig Sivertson raised the flags to half-staff before the ceremony concluded.